The Top Time Management Tips for Web Development Companies

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If you run or work in a website development company, you understand how important time management can be in the success of your organization. You and your employees are responsible for multiple clients, each with its own unique needs and requirements. With so much on your plate, it’s important to learn effective time management strategies that will help you keep up with the demands of your clients while also ensuring that you maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Delegate your tasks

Perhaps one of the biggest time-wasters among web developers is that they’re afraid to delegate tasks. Many developers feel as though their best talent is in creating code, so they end up spending precious hours on tasks like updating websites and making basic marketing decisions—tasks they can’t excel at, but also aren’t necessary at all. The first step to managing your time effectively is to hand off all your non-creative tasks and let a team member or an outside expert handle them. This will free you up to focus more on what you do best: web development.

Still, some tasks are going to require your attention. During busy seasons (particularly holidays) it’s smart to be hands-on with how work gets completed. However, it’s equally important to keep an eye on how much time you spend doing these hands-on activities versus actual coding. If you find yourself spending 10% of your day is effective and 90% simply keeping things afloat, then there are probably opportunities for improvement within your current business model.

Maintain schedules

Maintaining a strict schedule is an extremely important skill in any environment, but it’s particularly crucial in a website development company. In many cases, clients are counting on deadlines being met; but if you can’t meet them—because someone isn’t holding up their end of a project or a particular task—then your business could suffer. For example, missing a deadline might result in losing out on new clients.

As such, it’s imperative that employees at website development companies understand how to manage time effectively. By maintaining schedules and working hard to keep projects moving forward as planned, web developers have an easier time ensuring that deadlines are met and new customers continue to come through the door.

Meetings are an essential part of any working day

Meetings are where ideas get discussed, strategies plotted and problems solved. But meetings can also be a huge time-waster: long, dreary affairs where nothing of any real importance gets said. It’s worth trying to ensure that meetings are as effective as possible—and there are some tried-and-tested tips you can use to make sure they are. Try using these three simple tricks to keep your meetings on track.

1) Have an agenda

One of the most important things about having a meeting is making sure it stays on topic; in order to do so, it helps if everyone has read up on what’s going to be discussed beforehand. Make sure you have an agenda prepared before you start—and don’t be afraid to keep your meetings short and sweet. You can even try using tools like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook Calendar to keep track of your upcoming meetings and ensure they don’t overlap.

2) Stick to time limits

When you have a full schedule of meetings, it can be tempting just to let them run over time; but that’s not fair on other people—or yourself! Try setting an alarm or timer so you know when your meeting is due to end. And if someone else is running late, don’t be afraid to politely interrupt and ask them how much longer they think their meeting will last. That way, you won’t be kept waiting too long.

3) Take notes

It might seem like a chore, but taking notes during meetings can help ensure that nothing important gets lost in translation: at any given moment in time there are several different conversations going on around a table—and if you don’t write things down while they happen, there’s no guarantee everyone will remember what was said later on. Even just jotting down a few bullet points or keywords can be enough to jog your memory when it comes to follow-up discussions.

However, if you choose to manage your time, try not to feel guilty about it: after all, nobody is perfect! Just do your best and make sure that every minute counts.

Focus on results, not hours worked

A lot of managers think that productivity is based on hours worked, but at a website development company, people’s schedules should be flexible and dependent on getting work done. While you might have to work hard to hit deadlines, it’s important to realize that working longer doesn’t always mean getting more work done. Taking a look at your time and moving around blocks of tasks can help you maximize your results in less time.

If you need some tips on how to do that, here are some suggestions.

A) Block out large chunks of time:

When you block out large chunks of time (at least three hours), it makes it easier to focus on one task without being interrupted by other things. You can also get into a groove with fewer distractions when you know that someone isn’t going to pop into your office every five minutes asking about their project or what you thought about their last status report.

B) Use time boxing techniques:

Time boxing is similar to blocking out large chunks of time; however, instead of making sure you complete a single task within those blocks, you simply want to make sure that whatever work you start gets finished within them. So if you want to accomplish two tasks during an hour-long meeting with a client, don’t feel bad if only one gets completed—as long as both will be finished before your next meeting starts.

Always deliver on time. Even better – ahead of schedule!

If you’re on schedule, it means you’re running on time. If you’re ahead of schedule, it means that your work is progressing faster than expected and allows room to anticipate problems that can slow down your work or complete your project before the deadline – if needed. Being ahead of schedule is almost always better than being on time (aside from when your customers expect something earlier) because it gives us an upper hand in case we run into a problem or deadline changes. And since most projects have some sort of change during development, being ahead of schedule means you will have plenty of wiggle room to accommodate these changes without sacrificing quality.

Do nothing more than is necessary

The more time you spend working on things that are unnecessary, the less time you’ll have to work on what really matters. So learn to say no; if a prospective client isn’t right for your business, politely decline their project proposal. If you don’t have time in your schedule to finish a particular task or job by a certain deadline, make an excuse and move on—there will always be more work down the road.

And when it comes to meetings, try keeping them short and sweet. You might be surprised at how much can get accomplished in just 15 minutes! It is also very important to prioritize your tasks. Once you know which tasks need to be done first, start with those ones first and then go through other tasks one by one as per priority level. This way you can save some of your valuable time as well as get maximum output from minimum efforts.

Minimize distractions and interruptions

At a small website development company, it’s common to have everyone in close proximity and have projects intermingling. When everyone’s an everybody, you need to be considerate about when you take meetings, how long they are, and with whom you’re taking them. If you don’t want interruptions and distractions throughout your day (and who does?). Try eliminating as many of them as possible by following these tips

Focus on high-value activities:

Having a website development company is all about being productive. Make sure that during your limited time, you’re focused on things that will contribute most to business growth. High-level tasks like strategic planning should get priority because if executed well, can drive rapid results later down the line. If you don’t have enough time in a day to do everything. Then focus on what really matters and cut out low-value tasks (i.e., busy work).

Be proactive and self-manage:

It’s easy to wait until someone else tells you what needs doing next or how they want something done. But when it comes to managing your own time and attention effectively in a website development company environment. That kind of mindset can hold you back from achieving success. Instead, be proactive about your work—ask questions, set priorities, and manage projects on your own terms.

Segment the process into manageable tasks with realistic deadlines

If a project is too big to take on all at once, break it down into smaller, manageable tasks. This will give you an attainable and realistic sense of how much time it’ll take to complete your project. Don’t bite off more than you can chew—you don’t want burnout or taking on more work than you can handle. Don’t be intimidated by large projects. Think about them in terms of small steps that are easy to accomplish.

For example, if you have an entire website redesign planned out, instead think about designing one page at a time. Then move on to another page until you have completed your redesign. The same goes for other larger projects: segmenting allows you to take on less stress and make progress faster. Stay organized: Organization is key when managing your time.

Make sure everything has its place so that there’s no confusion about where things should go when they need to be worked on. The more organized you are, the easier it will be to manage your schedule efficiently. A clean workspace helps keep stress levels low as well!

Try Allocating Your Workload Wisely

If you’re a solo entrepreneur who’s also looking after all of your company’s design and development projects. Chances are you don’t have enough time to dedicate to any one project—no matter how valuable. For example, if you’re developing an e-commerce site for your client. She asks you to add a series of Facebook plug-ins, how will you fit it into your existing schedule? The solution: Divide and conquer.

It might be tempting to take on every task that comes your way. Doing so could mean sacrificing quality in favor of quantity. Instead, try delegating some tasks to freelancers or even other employees (if you have them). This can help you focus on what really matters and produce better results in less time. Plus, delegating tasks gives other people experience with your processes and systems. Which can make them more efficient down the road.

Remember, when you delegate tasks to others. There’s always a chance they won’t get done exactly as you would have done them. However, if those tasks aren’t worth doing yourself anyway, is it really worth spending hours perfecting them? Only you can answer that question.

Conclusion

The best time management tip I can give to anyone is to stop wasting your time and move on from bad habits that steal your productivity. This can be done by setting priorities, saying no to distractions, learning self-discipline, and tracking your progress. Find strategies that work for you and stick with them; over time you’ll see an improvement in how much you get done in a day—or week! —and will be able to spend more time doing what you enjoy.